SCOTUS v. Pro-life Parents

The U.S. Supreme Court made its decision in the case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. The highest court struck down two of the four provisions in HB 2. This Texas pro-life law required health and safety standards for abortion facilities. The court just ruled against minimum standards in abortion centers. Remember Kermit Gosnell? Well, the Court just ruled that his house of horrors could happen again.

This case didn’t outlaw abortions in the state of Texas. It simply put up common-sense accountability so that women were protected in the case of emergencies. Doctors were required to have admitting privileges to a hospital on the day of the abortion procedures and the abortion facility was required to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers. The Court ruled that a woman’s access to abortion is more important than providing safety measures during an abortion procedure.

I committed this case to prayer for months. The one thing I know I can do for the pro-life movement is to pray. I prayed that the Judges who sit on those benches would have minds and hearts changed over just what this case meant to the lives of women and children. I prayed that despite the sudden death of Antonin Scalia, one of the most pro-life Supreme Court judges, a verdict would side in the case for life.

Prayer is the one thing I can do in my passion and commitment to fight for the life of the unborn. I am a busy mom of three and although I would love to stand in front of the steps of the Supreme Court and bring my petitions before God in the center of where this case was being challenged, home is where I am supposed to be. There are times that I feel disconnected to the pro-life movement because I know that my first commitment is to my children at home. Despite my calling to stand with those who openly stand for life, I know that means at times I cannot literally be there with them. So I pray.

This case set me back a bit in my prayer commitment to bring an end to abortion. It’s discouraging to feel like your prayers aren’t breaking through the strongholds this country has on the right to abortion. It’s heartbreaking when a simple common-sense law is so easily disregarded because access to abortion takes priority over women’s safety. A woman’s right to choose seems to take precedence even over regulations that would save the very life of that woman.

I was discouraged but it was my eleven year old son who encouraged me in my commitment to pray and my part in the pro-life movement. On the same day of the Court’s decision, my son noticed my red life band that I wear on my wrist. He asked why I wear that every day. I have been wearing it for months but he just seemed to notice it. I told him I wear it to remind me to pray for the ending of abortion and that God would save the lives of babies in the womb and mothers who think their only option is to abort their unborn children. “Oh, cool,” he replied. I laughed at his nonchalant reaction. But then I realized exactly what God has called me to, as a mother, in standing openly for life. He has called me to be a voice to my children in guiding them to be the pro-life generation who will one day witness the ending of abortion.

As parents, we cannot underestimate our value in helping the pro-life movement even if that means we are doing it from home. Be the voice of life to your children. Talk about abortion at home. Pray with your family and commit to God the ending of abortion. Pray for those who are among the pro-life movement who are standing in the fight to save the lives of the unborn. Teach your children about grace, mercy, and the forgiveness that only God can give for those who have chosen abortion in their past. Share the beauty of adoption and stories of those you know who were given life because another agreed to welcome them into their home. Our children will be voices for life if we speak life into them.

Roe v. Wade has cast a shadow in this country and few people, outside the pro-life voices, are willing to talk about abortion even if they stand for life. We rarely talk about it in our churches. It’s not a comfortable subject to talk about at home but if we as parents are to raise up a pro-life generation, we must discuss it at home and demonstrate our commitment to the life of the unborn through prayer.

It’s our responsibility to train our children about the beauty of God-given life so that one day this generation will be sitting in the marble halls of the highest Court in the land and they will choose life and hopefully one day they will even overturn Roe v. Wade and bring an end to abortion.

Mom and Dad, don’t underestimate your importance in standing among those who fight for the life of the unborn. You have one of the most important audiences in front of you.

Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. –Proverbs 22:6

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4 responses to SCOTUS v. Pro-life Parents

It was heart-breaking to see. And whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, what happened yesterday was not an “advance” in women’s rights. It didn’t make things better no matter which side of the fence you’re on. Praying with you.

The Kermit Gosnell case was horrific, but was not due to abortion law. His clinic wasn’t inspected regularly as it should have been by the state.

The HB2 law required clinics to have hospital surgical standards for procedures that have lower complication rates than that of dental procedures, colonoscopies and actual childbirth – procedures that are legally allowed to take place in facilities that don’t require the same facilities.

It also required admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles for the doctors performing the abortions, however if there is a medical emergency, paramedics will come to an abortion clinic and transfer the patient to a hospital and then transfer the care to a trauma/ER physician, just like any other time you have a medical emergency. It’s not going to save any time or provide the patient with a better outcome. The doctor performing the abortion certainly isn’t going to be the one to care for them in hospital anyway.

Your argument is based on your religious values, not on scientific evidence or legal grounds. I respect your views, but not when you dress them up to make them look like they are something else.